DJ Gemma Cairney: For many people growing up, Radio 1 was the ultimate thing to listen to – it needs to remain that

DJ Gemma Cairney, 28, presents the Radio 1 breakfast show on the weekends. This week she’ll be (optimistically) packing her sunnies and covering the Glastonbury Festival

Are you looking forward to Glastonbury? I looked at the line-up the other day and I could have puked with excitement. I love it. It didn’t happen last year and I’m ready for it. I can’t wait to see the Stones. One of my friends is the biggest Stones fan on the planet. She works for them. She taught me so much about them so I now know how special and important it is for them to play Glastonbury – it’s going to be music history. And I want to see Beyoncé’s little sister Solange. I’m sure she’s taken some tips from her sister, who smashed it a couple of years ago. She’s a sister from another mister in my mind. I love her and I want her to be my mate.

What are your festival essentials? Loads of sunglasses. I take things to cheer me up in case I feel hungover or cold. Sunglasses can shield a load of sins. Glitter as well – you make so many friends in the middle of the night if you’ve got glitter in your pocket. There’s a point in the night when it becomes acceptable to put it on people’s faces.

How did you become a DJ? I went to drama school but after a couple of years it became clear I couldn’t be anyone but myself. Then I got wrapped up with the fashion world for a couple of years as an assistant, taking fluff off pop stars’ bottoms when they were on TV shows. It was fun but not what I really wanted to be doing so I thought about presenting – but the idea of saying: ‘I want to be a TV presenter’ at parties made me cringe so I thought radio would be the coolest entry point. I had no money, was working as a part-time tequila girl in bars, then got a bursary and did a 12-week radio course, which was the beginning of everything.

What went wrong with the acting? I wasn’t very good at the formal etiquette of how to succeed in acting. You’re meant to send off a very specific letter with a specific black-and-white head shot and you have to get an agent – you can’t just go up to people and ask for jobs. I learned my lines like everyone else but when it came down to it, I just didn’t think I was that good.

Did any pop stars have any diva strops when you were styling them? The celebrities and models were fine – the stylists I was assisting were the problem. When you’re assisting a top fashion stylist, things can be insane. I was on a high-profile shoot once for a massive fashion house and got £50 for the day – I had to go to Hamleys to buy a ghastly-looking doll for someone’s god-daughter’s birthday, champagne for someone’s birthday, cigarettes, a specific type of coffee from Starbucks, even though the shoot had full catering, tampons – these were all separate trips. It was a funny world. It was like a big theatrical show, which I enjoyed but it didn’t suit my temperament.

How do you move up the Radio 1 food chain? You tell me. I don’t know. With radio you come to the understanding that things will change throughout your career. You can be really into a show but it can change at any point so you have to be flexible. I started doing breakfast with Trevor Nelson on 1Xtra, then did an afternoon show on 1Extra, then I was moved to Radio 1 weekend breakfast – as for what happens next, who knows? You don’t know what’s round the corner.

There are changes at Radio 1. Is it a bit rude to tell listeners over the age of 25 they’re not supposed to be listening to Radio 1 any more? I don’t think anyone’s ever put it like that. The BBC has responsibilities to different things in different places. For many people growing up, Radio 1 was the ultimate thing to be listening to and it needs to remain that. We should be the most exciting, flabbergasting, ridiculous, fun, cutting-edge radio station the BBC has and with that should come young listeners. That’s exciting for us. We want it to be naughty and the loudest station in the building.

What’s been your most extravagant purchase? I’ve nearly put a deposit down on a two-bedroom flat in east London. That’s it. My bank account will be empty. I’ve been working my arse off for five years and now it’s all going to go. It’s very exciting. It’s incomprehensible I can buy some bricks – five years ago I couldn’t afford a sandwich but I was carting around suitcases full of insanely expensive clothes. It was a bit too ironic for me to find the humour in it at the time.

Have you ever had a supernatural experience? I had my tarot cards read when I was in LA two years ago. We met a guy who said he was Brad Pitt’s second cousin and we believed him, he had us hook, line and sinker – he looked like the fortune teller machine guy in Big. He told me I’d live to 104. I like life so that’ll be nice. He also said I was bisexual. I haven’t experienced that yet but maybe that’s in the future. Who knows?

Gemma is part of the BBC Glastonbury presenting team and will be covering the festival for BBC Three from June 28 to 30.